OT: Windows Disaster Time

I've got a blue screen issue...

All of a sudden I acquired a "Search results" icon on my desktop.

Where it came from I have no idea, sometimes my sloppy mouse movements
get things on the desktop that don't belong.

I right-clicked in an attempt to delete it... no dice, no delete
option.

So, like a dummy, I drug it onto the toolbar, figuring it to be a copy
of Explorer.

No dice.

So I re-booted.

So I get an error message, "Explorer (no surprise) has committed an
illegal" something or other, then I get a blue screen.

Turns out the machine still "talks", I'm running this message right
now by loading Agent using Task Manager.

OS is Win2K.

Any ideas on how to fix?

No smart-ass remarks about Linux, PLEASE ;-)

...Jim Thompson

 

Have you loaded the new Msn 'toolbar'?.
In this, under 'search', there is an option 'desktop', which puts a search
icon on the desktop.
Now if this is what has generated it, you may be able to get rid of it by
going to Msn search on the web, and selecting 'restore defaults'. It is
normally removable using the options in the toolbar. However I can't see
why an icon on the desktop, should cause an explorer crash on boot, so I'd
be incined to look in the 'startup' folder (or use regedit to look here
manually), and see if it is actually launching something.
Have you rebooted more than once?. Otherwise 'last known good' from F8 at
bootup, might get you back to a working machine.

Best Wishes

 

Hello Jim,

Did you (or rather, can you still) run a newer virus checker program on
that PC? If it's too shot to do that I am afraid you might be looking at
a complete Windows re-install :-(

Hopefully you don't have to...

Regards, Joerg

 

Hey Linux isnt much better you can easily screw that up too. And it'll take longer to repair unless you know a guru.

I would try to run a chkdsk /f and see what comes up. Since you can run TaskMgr, run 'cmd'

You might have a corrupted file.

Can you run Explorer from TaskMgr?

Record the Dll name that caused the crash, sometimes replacing the DLL (delete and copy a fresh one) solves the problem.

Cheers

 

I run a scan weekly, and Norton sits there scanning anything inbound,
so I don't _think_ it's a virus.

...Jim Thompson

 

Hello Jim,

That should be a pretty good protection. It depends on the settings, IOW
what you are allowing Norton to bless WRT downloads etc. I also have a
HW firewall between the biz network and anything outside.

The reason I am thinking a re-install may be in the cards is that you
mentioned that Explorer crashes the system. Assuming that is Windows
Explorer and not IE that can be serious because it is a fairly integral
part of Windows. A SW engineer at a client once told me that a broken
Windows Explorer is like driving around with a frayed timing belt.

Regards, Joerg

 

I also have a HW firewall (Barricade). I have Norton configured with
NO "blessings", all downloads must ask for my OK.

I've verified that Windows Explorer is indeed the culprit.

I'm really not OS-savvy, so here goes the dumb question: Does an OS
re-install destroy all my installed programs? :-(

I can easily back-up everything, the network is working, and I have
ample drive space on other machines.

But I'd rather not have to re-install all the programs I own :-(

...Jim Thompson

 

Hello Jim,

That's the way to go. I am also running with the SMC Barricade. Nice
solid design.

Not a good sign :-(

I am not either. Have to leave that to the OS gurus. AFAIK it works like
this: While the OS re-install may not destroy the actual folders and
subdirectories of your applications you could end up with a blank
registry and other blank settings. So most likely they need to be
re-installed. But I am not an expert on that. I had just seen an IT guy
do exactly that when it happened on a machine at a client. Next to the
OS CD he brought all the others that were registered as being on the system.

Regards, Joerg

 

With an operating system like Windows, who needs virii?

When confronted with problems like that, I usually wipe and format the
boot drive, re-install the OS, and re-install applications I've recently used
along with saved data files from my latest backup.

Jim

 

Can't you simply get a good copy of explorer.exe and write it over the
damaged copy.

Graham

 

That's a good idea, all 4 of my machines run Win2K.

...Jim Thompson

 

Yep, I can boot into safe mode, but what will that buy me?

...Jim Thompson

 

Can you start in safe mode (F8 on boot)? There's also last known good
in that menu, but IIRC, you might trash some recent installations with
that choice.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

IME, an install over the previous version wipes out nothing (but may
not fix your problem). An install in a new Win directory wipes out all
the installations of all programs (but generally leaves all your data
intact).



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

I'm really not OS-savvy, so here goes the dumb question:

While they are installing, (except for very tiny apps)
Windoze-compatible software makes changes to the Registry.
This is why you can't just drag & drop an application directory
from a backup disk onto a HDD and get the app to work.

In short the answer is:
After an OS reinstall, you have to reinstall apps.

Larkin was talking about this a while back.
When his installs are still quite young,
he uses something like Norton Ghost to "clone" the drive
by making an image of the HDD onto another HDD.

At a time when you have a stable system, CLONE IT.
Hard drives are so cheap now
that clone backups for mission-critical stuff
(even rotating backups) seems like a no-brainer.

WARNING: Here comes the Linux crack.

Saying "mission-critical" while talking about Windoze
just seems absurd.

 

From Safe mode you can selectivly turn off services and other drivers that load during the boot phase.
Possible remove the software you wanted to.

 

In Safe Mode I'm getting the same blank screen as in normal mode. yet
I can load any program via Task Manager.

...Jim Thompson

 

This is really a misleading statement. When you go to install Windows, it'll
ask you if you want to perform a "fresh" installation or just "re-install" it.
In the later case, it attempts to keep all your old programs working.
Unfortunately, what this effectively means is that it doesn't completely
"clean" the registry, and there are plenty of scenarios where re-installing
the OS doesn't help and you end up having to do a "clean" install anyway (and
re-install all your apps).

Yeah, not a bad idea!

Windows isn't, at its core, any less stable or usable than Linux. The kernel
is actually somewhat more sophisticated that Linux's, which I suspect is why
Microsoft's IIS typically beats Linux's Apache for throughput.

---Joel

 

That's also my understanding. Over-the-top reinstals accept the existing
registry, warts and all. If the problem is registry-based (and most unwanted
"features" entrench themselves in the registry to execute at startup) then it
won't fix the issue. If it is a corrupted WinExploder file then an O-T-T
*should* fix it.

I'd be inclined to try identifying the "feature". Try AdAware and Spybot S&D
for starters, and also try an alternative virus scanner. I use F-Prot's free
DOS version for that task.

 

Oh, run 'cmd' and then run a chkdsk /f. See if your disk is corrupt.

Martin